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Wednesday, 22 February 2017

449) Bicentenary of The Poona Horse: A Stamp of Rs.5/- issued by India Post on 11.02.2017 commemorating the Bicentenary of the raising of the Poona Horse Regiment:

449)
Bicentenary of The Poona Horse: A Stamp of Rs.5/- issued by India Post on
11.02.2017 commemorating the Bicentenary of the raising of the Poona Horse
Regiment:

The
Poona Horse:

The Poona Horse Regiment
was raised on 15.07.1817 at Shirur, near Pune. The Poona Horse has the
distinction of being one of the most decorated regiments in the Indian Army.

The Poona Horse as it
exists today is an amalgamation of two of the finest cavalry regiments of the
erstwhile Bombay Presidency (present day Mumbai). The forebears of the Poona
Horse were raised as an auxiliary force for service in the territories governed
by the Peshwas. Considering that the Peshwas ruled from “Attock to Cuttack”
this was indeed an enormous task.

The Regiment was still
being raised when it was blooded in the battle of Koregaon, about 30 kms from
where we live in Pune (British India history books record this engagement as
the “Battle of Corygaum”). A small detachment of 300 horsemen were pitted
against some 28,600 horsemen and foot soldiers and successfully resisted the
adversary. The Regiment has thereafter won several laurels in its 200 years of
history.

In 1820, also at Shirur,
was raised the 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry.

In 1856, the Shah
of Persia invaded Afghanistan. The Poona Horse and the 3rd Bombay
Light cavalry were both part of the expeditionary force. This was the first
time when the sheer momentum, daring and ferocity of a cavalry charge broke up
the infantry square of the adversary. The Poona Horse annihilated the Persian 1st
Khusgai Regiment, who were the Shah’s famed body-guards, spiked their guns and
captured their Standard which was said to have dated back to 1066 AD.

At the Battle of Kushab,
two British officers were awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).

In 1858, the Poona
Horse was awarded its third VC, bestowed upon another British officer.

During World War I,
the Regiment fought in France, Palestine, Mesopotamia, etc. and another British
Officer was awarded the fourth VC posthumously.

(What about the Indian soldiers who fought in these actions, perhaps
more bravely than the British officers. It seems that their exploits went
unnoticed when the top Awards were being handed out)

During World War II, the
Regiment acquitted itself with great honour in Iraq and Cyprus.

In 1947, after
India got its Independence from the British Raj, the Kaimkhani Squadron of the
Poona Horse opted for Pakistan and their place was taken by the Sikh squadron
of the 13th Lancers, who soon became part and parcel of the Regiment
and imbibed the “Poona Horse spirit”.

In 1948, the
Regiment played a stellar role in the Hyderabad Police action immediately after
Partition of India and Pakistan.

In 1950, the Regiment
adopted its original name – the Poona Horse.

On 08.09.1965, the Poona
Horse Regiment spearheaded the Indian advance into Pakistan. It cleared the
Pakistani fortifications at Phillora after a gruelling close range battle with
the enemy Patton Tanks on 11.09.1965. Tarapore held his ground against
heavy enemy onslaught and was wounded, but refused to be evacuated. At the end
of the battle, 23 enemy tanks were destroyed or completely burnt and put
out of action. This battle was the fiercest tank battle fought since World War
II and broke the back of the Pakistani 6th Armoured Division.

Although severely wounded,
he continued to lead his Regiment to capture Wazirwali on 13.09.1965 and
Jassoran and Butur-Dograndi on 16.09.1965. Though his own tank was hit
several times, he maintained his pivots at both these places, supporting the
infantry attacking Chawinda. Inspired by his leadership, the Poona Horse
Regiment attacked and destroyed about 90 Pakistani Army tanks, suffering
only nine casualties. He was martyred when his tank was hit and caught fire.

His
valour did not go unnoticed by the enemy Commanders, who held their fire during
his cremation.

The Commandant Lt. Col A.B.
Tarapore was martyred in action on 16.09.1965. It was a proud moment for the
Regiment when Lt. Col Tarapore was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra,
the first in the Indian Armoured Corps.

Ardeshir Tarapore the
Commanding Officer, belonged to the family of General Ratanjiba who had led Ch.
Shivaji’s army and was awarded 100 villages of which Tarapore was the main
village, from where the family name came. He was assigned to the 17th
Poona Horse. By the end of the 1965 War, the Regiment emerged as the only unit
to be awarded two battle honours – Phillora and Butur-Dograndi – one Param Vir
Chakra, two Vir Chakras, five Sena Medals, twelve Mentioned-in-Despatches and
six Commendation Cards.

In the 1971 Indo-Pak
War, in the historic battle of Basantar, 2nd Lt. Arun Khetrapal of
17 Poona Horse, (which was assigned to the command of the 47th
Infantry brigade of the Indian Army) showed his grit and determination in
destroying enemy armour against all odds. He destroyed Pakistani tank after
tank, till his own Centurion tank was hit. The retreating enemy regrouped and
attacked him in great numbers trying to break through the Indian lines. Seeing
that he was hopelessly outnumbered & under attack from two squadrons of
Pakistani armour, his superior officer ordered him to abandon his burning tank,
but he replied “No Sir, I will not abandon my tank. My main gun is still
working and I will get these b-------”. Along with the two remaining tanks in his
section, he fought off and gunned down 10 Pakistani tanks before being martyred
in action, but his gallantry stopped the enemy from breaking through the Indian
lines.

At the end of this battle
the Poona Horse was awarded the Battle Honour of Basantar and the enemy’s
desperate attempts to break through the Indian lines were foiled. A grateful
nation bestowed the Param Vir Chakra upon him posthumously. Lt. Khetrapal was
born in Pune & was a warrior in the gallant traditions of the Poona Horse.

In all, the gallantry
awards won by the Regiment were one Param Vir Chakra, two Maha Vir Chakras,
three Vir Chakras, Three Sena Medals and ten Mentioned-in-Despatches.

Lt. Khetrapal is an iconic
figure in the annals of Indian Army. The parade ground at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune is named “Khetrapal ground after him, while the auditorium
and one of the main gates at the Indian military academy (IMA) bear his name.
His Centurion tank was called “Famagusta Jx 202". It was restored after the War
and is presently preserved in the Armoured Corps Centre and School at
Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.

On
15th July 2017, the Regiment will be completing 200 glorious years
of its Raising.

A
Stamp of Rs.5/- issued by India Post on 11.02.2017 commemorating the
Bicentenary of the Raising of the Poona Horse Regiment:

The First Day Cover issued
on the occasion of release of the stamps. The picture on the left shows a soldier
dressed in the Regimental colours. Below the image is the title “The Poona
Horse” (in both Hindi & English).

The 500 paise or Rs.5/-
Stamp shows a mounted cavalry soldier. To the left bottom of the stamp is the
current Regimental Badge insignia of the Poona Horse. The Cancellation
Hand-stamp is of New Delhi GPO and is inscribed “The Poona Horse” (in both
Hindi & English) on the outer periphery. In the centre is the cancellation
date stamp “11.02.2017”.

Towards the top Centre is
the logo of the Swachh Bharat mission with the motto “Ek Kadam Swachhta Ki Ore”
(meaning “A step towards cleanliness”).

The 500 Paise or Rs.5/-
stamp commemorating the Bicentenary of the Raising of the Poona Horse

The current Regimental Cap
Badge of the Regiment

A Half-sheet of 5 x 4 = 20 Stamps each of 500 Paise or Rs.5/- denomination commemorating the Bicentenary of the Raising of the Poona Horse Regiment

A Full Sheet of 9 x 5 = 45 Stamps each of 500 Paise or Rs.5/-
denomination commemorating the Bicentenary of the Raising of the Poona Horse Regiment

The Information brochure issued on the occasion of release of the StampTechnical
Data:

3 comments:

Thank you so much, Vikram. It was very interesting researching for this post, particularly when I got to know that the Regiment was raised in Shirur, practically next door to us about 30 km away. The very "difficult to digest" finding was that while the Regiment served under British India, in Afghanistan, Iraq, France, Constinople etc. in both WW I and WW II, it was only four British officers who were awarded the Victoria Cross and there is no mention of any Indian soldiers/officers being awarded with the high level gallantry awards by the British Authorities.

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .